Songs for a dance band

[mambo4]

So, a drummer friend and I have been trying for a while to get players together ... We finally found a great female vocalist, and now we are bass/drums/keys/guitar/singer. We all sing backgrounds, and the keyboard player sings some lead.

No advice on material but: consider a horn section
Carol Kaye herself advised "you have to give the people enough time to dance"
You can double the length of your songs and halve your set list
by letting decent horn players swap solos over a vamp.
My old Salsa band could never have pulled 3 hour gigs without those horns.

 

[pglaser01]

We have a female vocalist as well but no keys.

one of our largest crowd killers is Wanna Dance With Somebody. However to get a better vocal range and more “band-ish” with drums and guitars, we opted to do the Fall Out Boy cover version. Goes over VERY well if you can hit the harmonies too!!!

 

[NKBassman]

following

 

[bherman]

Our #1 (band I had to leave when I moved) was Billie Jean. All it took was 10 seconds of the bass line to get everyone up

some others - Cold Sweat (James Brown), Gimme some Lovin

 

[smogg]

So, a drummer friend and I have been trying for a while to get players together for a cover band that plays music that gets people dancing. Funk, R&B, disco, funk/rock, rock, pop, reggae, Latin, afrobeat, country, etc. A smattering of styles, not focused on when the songs came out, also not too focused on genre, but we want to play a variety that many different kinds of people (young/old/hip/square/whatever) would want to dance to.

We finally found a great female vocalist, and now we are bass/drums/keys/guitar/singer. We all sing backgrounds, and the keyboard player sings some lead. Everyone seems nice, talented, responsible, and enthusiastic, so I have high hopes.

We plan to start by playing in bars within a month or two, and then start looking for events, private parties, and such. I would love to hear recommendations for songs and artists you think would be good for a band such as this. We are in Los Angeles if that makes a difference.

Here’s some of the stuff we have been thinking about:
James Brown, Madonna, Prince, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Bee Gees, Village People, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan/Rufus, Stevie Wonder, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Justin Timberlake, No Doubt, Pink, Patrice Rushen, The Time, Rick James, Daft Punk, Kool and the Gang, The Temptations.

That list is maybe tilted toward funk, as that was our first thought. But I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

Santana, Sade, Duran Duran, INXS

 

[richntiff]

I've been trying to get my bandmates to do this one for years...but they think they are too cool.

I tell people that stuff like this would absolutely KILL - and nobody buys it or wants to do it. Macho Dudes seem to think playing a Village People tune will turn them gay or something. Drives me insane. You sir, are a visionary.

 

[coy garcia]

I tell people that stuff like this would absolutely KILL - and nobody buys it or wants to do it. Macho Dudes seem to think playing a Village People tune will turn them gay or something. Drives me insane. You sir, are a visionary.

My thoughts exactly!!!!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

So, a drummer friend and I have been trying for a while to get players together for a cover band that plays music that gets people dancing. Funk, R&B, disco, funk/rock, rock, pop, reggae, Latin, afrobeat, country, etc. A smattering of styles, not focused on when the songs came out, also not too focused on genre, but we want to play a variety that many different kinds of people (young/old/hip/square/whatever) would want to dance to.

We finally found a great female vocalist, and now we are bass/drums/keys/guitar/singer. We all sing backgrounds, and the keyboard player sings some lead. Everyone seems nice, talented, responsible, and enthusiastic, so I have high hopes.

We plan to start by playing in bars within a month or two, and then start looking for events, private parties, and such. I would love to hear recommendations for songs and artists you think would be good for a band such as this. We are in Los Angeles if that makes a difference.

Here’s some of the stuff we have been thinking about:
James Brown, Madonna, Prince, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Bee Gees, Village People, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan/Rufus, Stevie Wonder, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Justin Timberlake, No Doubt, Pink, Patrice Rushen, The Time, Rick James, Daft Punk, Kool and the Gang, The Temptations.

That list is maybe tilted toward funk, as that was our first thought. But I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

That’s a good list. I’d add Whitney Houston however.

 

[Snarf]

So, a drummer friend and I have been trying for a while to get players together for a cover band that plays music that gets people dancing. Funk, R&B, disco, funk/rock, rock, pop, reggae, Latin, afrobeat, country, etc. A smattering of styles, not focused on when the songs came out, also not too focused on genre, but we want to play a variety that many different kinds of people (young/old/hip/square/whatever) would want to dance to.

We finally found a great female vocalist, and now we are bass/drums/keys/guitar/singer. We all sing backgrounds, and the keyboard player sings some lead. Everyone seems nice, talented, responsible, and enthusiastic, so I have high hopes.

We plan to start by playing in bars within a month or two, and then start looking for events, private parties, and such. I would love to hear recommendations for songs and artists you think would be good for a band such as this. We are in Los Angeles if that makes a difference.

Here’s some of the stuff we have been thinking about:
James Brown, Madonna, Prince, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Bee Gees, Village People, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan/Rufus, Stevie Wonder, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Justin Timberlake, No Doubt, Pink, Patrice Rushen, The Time, Rick James, Daft Punk, Kool and the Gang, The Temptations.

That list is maybe tilted toward funk, as that was our first thought. But I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!

I make a living playing in these types of bands. Be very careful about doing Bee Gees. If you don't have multiple people in the band that can crush the falsetto, it will fall flat. When you're not absolutely nailing those vocals, it ends up sounding try-hard.

Someone mentioned Al Greene in the thread. I play that stuff, but it's mainly used when slower background music is required. It's not for the high-energy part of the night.

 

[slagbass]

No advice on material but: consider a horn section
Carol Kaye herself advised "you have to give the people enough time to dance"
You can double the length of your songs and halve your set list
by letting decent horn players swap solos over a vamp.
My old Salsa band could never have pulled 3 hour gigs without those horns.

Great advice. By the time the punters recognize the song, rally their dance partners and make it to the dance floor, the song is (often) half over. Another tip: when the intro to the song is immediately recognizable, extend it a bit.

My contribution (on the rockier side of things) that always seemed to get a reaction:
Sanctuary (The Cult)
Exes and Ohs (Elle King)

 

[RHA III]

Country Stuff - Dixieland Delight, Family Tradition, Something bout a Truck, Chicken Fried, Wagon Wheel, Buy Me a Boat, Fishing in the Dark and Revival.
Also try Driving My Life Away and Squeezebox!

 

[Bringindafunk]

Every time my cover band plays Cake By The Ocean by DNCE we have a packed dance floor. Young, old or in-between, everyone seems to dig that song.

 

[pingvuiini]

I find myself playing KC and the Sunshine band more often than I care to admit. Shake Your Booty, Get Down Tonight, That's the Way, I'm Your Boogie Man and Get It Up are all fun songs. A horn section would probably be needed though. Other disco classics like Boogie Oogie Oogie from A Taste of Honey and Freak Out by Chic are fun too.

During my classic rock cover days, the one song that surprisingly got everybody on the floor was L.A. Woman from the Doors. Perhaps it got people dancing because the rest of our set was Zep, Rush, Deep Purple, Ozzy/Sabbath, etc. I suspect if you played L.A. Woman amongst a bunch of disco/funk songs, it may not go over as well.

 

[bassicmike]

Our #1 (band I had to leave when I moved) was Billie Jean. All it took was 10 seconds of the bass line to get everyone up

I second this.

 

[bassicmike]

Has ABBA been mentioned?

We speed up Dancing Queen and it's always popular.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

I'll Be There For You
It's My Life
Road to Mandalay
Another Brick in the Wall
I Will Survive
No Roots
Obladi Oblada
You Can Leave Your Hat On
You Never Can Tell

As for afrobeat, I once heard a cover band playing Osibisa's "Sunshine Day/Dance the Body Music" disco-arranged medley. People danced like there was no tomorrow.

 

[Snarf]

Great advice. By the time the punters recognize the song, rally their dance partners and make it to the dance floor, the song is (often) half over. Another tip: when the intro to the song is immediately recognizable, extend it a bit.

My contribution (on the rockier side of things) that always seemed to get a reaction:
Sanctuary (The Cult)
Exes and Ohs (Elle King)

Interesting. In my band we do the exact opposite. We play everything DJ style, cut songs to 3/4 or 1/2 of their length, and we just keep it going. We've got horns, and all the parts are custom written, and arranged for this purpose. Even if we're going into songs with radically different tempos, we adjust to the new tempo during the count-in (god-mic). We can play for 2 hours without stopping for a second.

IME, Exes and Ohs clears the floor.

 

[DirtDog]

On the country side, these always packed the dance floors for us:

Chattahoochie
Dust on the Bottle
Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy
Fishin’ in the Dark
Ten rounds with Jose Quervo

 

[acid bass]

There's some level of dependence on where you are aiming to be as a band. Some folks are fine just playing local bars/clubs, others want to have the big corporate events/weddings. You've indicated a plan to get to private events, which to me starts getting into corporate/wedding band territory so take my advice with that in mind.

My song selection stems from some things that have already been said.

1. Look at what other bands in your area are playing. If there's overlap there's probably a reason.
2. If you get ladies dancing you get guys dancing. This leads to folks sticking around and makes the bar happy. That'll get you invited back.

Your list spans eras that are diverse age groups. Young people aren't going to relate to Chaka Khan very much and an older crew isn't going to be interested in Miley Cyrus (I've gone through both of these scenarios so count me as a data point). What you play is going to be dictated at least somewhat by the people you're playing to. If you want to get into private events you'll have to lean young, which means less disco and more modern pop (though some disco transcends eras). Some songs that I've played with bands that are generally foolproof.

• Sweet Home Alabama
• Your Love
• September
• Shut Up And Dance
• Party in the USA
• Uptown Funk
• I Wanna Dance With Somebody
• Footloose
• Mr Brightside
• All The Small Things
• Wagon Wheel